David Garman

After a career as a U.S. Senate Aide and Senior Official in the U.S. Department of Energy, David Garman finally escaped Washington DC and moved to Idaho in 2016. He and his wife had previously purchased land bordering the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest near Riggins in 2005, building a net-zero energy “Mountain House” with views of the Rapid River Canyon.

David was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in 2001; then as the Under Secretary of Energy in 2005. He was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to both positions. As the Under Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy, David was responsible for the department’s energy research and development portfolio and its nuclear legacy environmental cleanup program.

After leaving government service in 2007, David was the managing partner of a consulting firm whose clients included global companies, national laboratories, technology startups and environmental non-profits. He also chaired the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) Advisory Council and served on the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center advisory board, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory Energy Systems Integration Advisory Committee, and a National Academy of Sciences committee evaluating policies to accelerate the deployment of cleaner energy technologies.

David holds a Master of Sciences in Environmental Sciences from the Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor of Arts in Public Policy and Political Science from Duke University. He and his wife Kira divide their time between Boise and their mountain property near Riggins where David enjoys hiking, landscape photography and astrophotography. David and Kira have three grown children who also call Idaho home.